ARC Review: Revenge of the Sluts by Natalie Walton
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Series: None
Author: Natalie Walton
Published February 2nd 2021 by Wattpad Books
Goodreads Synopsis
Double standards are about to get singled out.
In this stunning debut, author Natalie Walton tackles privacy and relationships in the digital age.
As a lead reporter for The Warrior Weekly, Eden has covered her fair share of stories at St. Joseph's High School. And when intimate pictures of seven female students are anonymously emailed to the entire school, Eden is determined to get to the bottom of it.
In tracking down leads, Eden is shocked to discover not everyone agrees the students are victims. Some people feel the girls "brought it on themselves." Even worse, the school’s administration seems more concerned about protecting its reputation than its students.
With the anonymous sender threatening more emails, Eden finds an unlikely ally: the seven young women themselves. Banding together to find the perpetrator, the tables are about to be turned. The Slut Squad is fighting back!
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via Edelweiss. This in no way impacted on my view.
Revenge of the Sluts sees what happens when a school refuses to take a stance on toxic masculinity, slut shaming, and revenge porn. Life at St Joseph's School was going on as normal, until one day the whole student body receive an email from the anonymous 'Eros', in which was attached 7 nudes from senior girls. The lives of those girls, and of Eden, budding reporter at the school paper, are irrevocably changed. All that the school is willing to do is brush it under the carpet, and when Eden reports on the story, she is censored, and the girls who's photos were shared are shamed. Working together, those involved want to spread the word on the cruel nature of revenge porn, and change the way the school, the state, and the country look at the issue, as well as discovering who is behind the email.
I was thrown by how powerful this book was. I thought, going by the cover, that it would be more like that movie John Tucker Must Die, and be a comedy, but it was really serious and hard hitting at times. It felt so real, and honest, from the moment the first email arrived in the students inboxes, until the culprit was found and dealt with. Being English, I'm not that aware of laws and such in America, so I didn't know that some states didn't have a law against revenge porn, and this book takes place in a state where that's the case. All of the seven girls who have their personal images shared are ridiculed, shamed, and lambasted by the majority of others in the book - in some cases by their own families and friends too. I really felt for them, and appreciated when the 'Slut Squad' was formed, as it was somewhere for the girls to talk through it, and deal with the aftermath. I really hated how it was only one teacher who was willing to talk about the issue, and that the administration wanted to bury it under the carpet, and refuse to allow the paper to talk about it. I wasn't really surprised with who the culprit was, but loved the last 10% of the book. A really important book for modern teens!
Dates Read:
January 1, 2022
Rating
4 Stars
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